Michigan

Western Michigan running back commit Leo Ekwoge moved to the United States from Africa when he was 3 years old. He said playing college football was a long shot when he was young, but he's now less than three weeks away from realizing his dream.
(Courtesy photo)

"I didn'ÂÂt think I was capable of going to college and playing football. The fact that this is actually happening is exciting" - WMU commit Leo Ekwoge

KALAMAZOO, MI – Leo Ekwoge never thought he would become a college football player.

His family moved to the United States from Cameroon, Africa when he was 3 years old and he didn’t start playing organized football until seventh grade.

As the years passed, he became a good player and worked his way into being ranked a three-star running back poised for a big senior season at a high school ranked highly in the country. But, at the onset of his final year he tore an ACL and his chance to follow in the footsteps of the running backs before him and make a name for himself and sign with a major program seemed over.

However, Western Michigan University football assistant coach Charles Huff found Ekwoge before the injury and quickly extended a scholarship offer, which was his second, and WMU's staff stuck with him after the injury.

Leo Ekwoge

Ekwoge is now less than three weeks away from signing with Western Michigan and beginning the process of showing people how good he can be and much he can help the Broncos, who compiled a 1-11 record in a dismal first season for head coach P.J. Fleck

“It’s really exciting,” Ekwoge said. “I’ve dreamed about it. I’ve seen other people on signing day on TV and I always wanted that, but I never thought it was going to happen with the situation I had in my childhood. I didn’t start playing football until seventh grade. I didn’t think I was capable of going to college and playing football. The fact that this is actually happening is exciting.

"In Maryland, people really don’t know about Western Michigan. ...People think I’m going to a D-IAA. Then, (WMU) went 1-11 and to me that’s a big motivator because coach Fleck says Auburn was awful and was two-and-something or three-and-something last year. They went from worst to first. We can do the same thing. We can go worst to first with the recruiting class we have and the players that are already there that installed the base to be elite."

Ekwoge, who committed to the Broncos in July of last year, said WMU was the second school to offer him. He said he appreciated the love WMU’s staff showed him before and after the ACL injury and that was a big reason why he committed to a school he had only previously known about through video games.

“One of my old high school coaches is at a community college in Iowa and he’s good friends with (WMU running backs coach Charles Huff) and he told Huff about me and one day I was on the train going to (Washington) D.C. for a project and he called me and said coach Fleck talked to him and they wanted to offer me,” Ekwoge explained. “That was my second offer and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ I saw them on (the video game) NCAA Football and never thought they were real. It was weird, but I was happy about it. They were the ones that showed me the most love in the recruiting process, even before I tore my ACL.”

Western Michigan also has commitments from three-star running backs Jamauri Bogan (5-7, 165, Union City, N.J) and Jarvion Franklin (6-0, 217, Chicago). All three are expected to be in the mix for the starting tailback job in the fall with the graduation of Dareyon Chance, Brian Fields and Antoin Scriven. WMU signed running back Fabian Johnson last year, but he saw limited action in eight games as a special teams player.

Per NCAA rules, WMU coaches cannot comment on unsigned players.

Ekwoge said he has stayed in contact with Franklin and Bogan and is looking forward to what the future holds for the trio.

“I haven’t met Jamauri yet,” Ekwoge said. “I met Jarvion at a camp and we bonded. I didn’t know him. He hadn’t committed yet and I hadn’t committed yet and we were talking about it and we’re like, ‘Man, this might be the place. This might be the movement with us two running backs and Jamauri. This is going to be something serious.’ We have a good friendship going.”

The running back competition will be one of the bigger storylines in fall camp, along with the quarterback battle, and Bogan said he can’t wait.

“Competition is always great,” he said. “It’s going to bring the best out of whoever is the starter. Whoever ends up winning the job will deserve it, but we’re definitely going to have to raise our game and be the best we possibly can be.”

WMU rushed for an average of 116 yards per game last season, which was
the second-worst mark among Mid-American Conference teams.

Organized football seemed a dream for a young Ekwoge as his parents didn’t fully understand the sport or like how much physical contact was involved. But, he said his parents eventually caved and now he and his parents have insightful football talks, most recently about the NFL playoffs.

“It’s real cool,” he said. “My dad these past years has been talking to me about football and asking me about playoffs. At first, back in the day, he didn’t really know about it all. He started watching every weekend. My mom watches and listens on the radio. It’s pretty cool.”